


One Left Behind

by Elenhin



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies), The Hurt Locker (2008)
Genre: Bomb disposal, EOD, IED, IMF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-12 00:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7913887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenhin/pseuds/Elenhin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you fail the mission, IMF will deny all knowledge of you, Ethan Hunt's team do not operate according to this. No one gets left behind, only this time someone does. </p>
<p>This time when they come back for him, it's already too late. No one was meant to be abandoned, but this time, one got left behind. </p>
<p>Ethan must try to save first his teammate, and then possibly himself from Will’s brother who is by no means happy about Will having been misplaced</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. chapter 1

One Left Behind

Chapter 1

Ethan Hunt was according to many an adrenalin junkie, a danger freak. He lived for the thrill of the chase, the rush of danger. Former Chief Analyst William Brandt, not so much. Yet even for him it was like a hit from an old addiction he simply could not turn down. He never started his day in the hope of finding himself hanging between life and death, as Ethan sometimes seemed to do. He just couldn’t turn away from the injustices and the suffering he saw everyday. 

He couldn’t just watch without trying to do something about it, the main difference it did not really matter to him how he did it. He was fine with putting himself in front of a computer screen as long as he knew he worked towards a better world. He did not have to be in the thick of it, gun in hand. He did not crave the adrenaline rush. He just needed to know that somewhere, in some way, the world was a little better of a place when he went to bed, than it had been when he got up that morning. It might not mean a lot to some, and there was a lot of things left to do before they were anywhere near done, but it was something. 

Somewhere, someone was safe, was able to go home from work as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, because it had not, because they had stopped it. 

There were times this was done by pure adrenaline and brute strength, but there were also times when it was done by the hammering on a keyboard, by sitting hunched in front of a flickering screen until you did not even know if you could ever straighten again. 

That was not the way of Ethan Hunt, it was not a way he understood, not really. He knew that intel was good and that bad intel got you killed. He did not see how information and knowledge alone could save the world. 

William Brandt could, because there were times when a gun made no difference at all. The way he saw it, it was like knowing the difference between red then yellow, and yellow then black. The coral snake was venomous, the scarlet kingsnake was not. Knowledge allowed you to tell them apart while adrenalin would let outrun them. If one was in your way though, and there was no way over or around it, then knowing the difference made all the difference. If you saw red then yellow in front of you, it was a very good idea to know what that meant. Otherwise, you might just find your hands full of more snake than you could handle. 

IMF trained them well, he was confident that he could pull his gun and fire at a target, without shooting himself in the foot. He knew how to handle a gun, could disarm an opponent in close quarters, and was a good shot when it came to hitting what you aimed at. 

He knew how to drive a car in a car chase, in pursuit or as the one being pursued. 

He wasn’t a violent man, not in any way, but he could hold his own when he had to. He had done some of that even before he was recruited into the IMF. One of his instructors had told him that there was generally three groups in the IMF, and you had to pick the one you excelled at. Agent, techie or analyst. He proceeded to tell him that as he was equally skilled in the field, as in the data handling, there had to be something wrong with him. The man had been shaking his head over him the whole time he trained him, claiming he was far too good at hand to hand combat to know what to do with a computer. His memory and ability to make use of that, meant he shouldn’t be able to hit the barn wall with a cannon, if he was so standing in the barn. 

Most of the other trainers had decided he was right, but shrugged and figured if he could pull it off, all the better. 

Most of the others he trained with had not been of that view. Having someone run laps around on you on the track was apparently bad enough, if that someone then proceeded to beat you at the mental challenges they were presented with as well, oh, not good. 

Yeah that was why he was mostly an unknown in the ranks, and he had prefered it that way. He didn’t need to stand out, he didn’t need for anyone to really know who he was. It was much easier to do his job if he was overlooked, both by the enemy and their own. 

That was one way where he and Ethan Hunt were just a little too different, not that Ethan needed to show who he was in their face. It was just that he was quite satisfied and happy knowing that everyone else knew him. He didn’t mind the junior agents fawning over him in the corridors while Will tended to actively avoid that if he could. 

So what if there was a lot of talk by the water cooler how he really had nothing to offer. How a nobody that no one knew could have anything to offer the mighty Ethan Hunt. The word was he had some hold over him and Ethan put up with him only because he had no choice. 

That talk bothered Benji more than it bothered him, he didn’t much care. Benji was flustered and felt it was unfair, but hey, no one ever said life would be fair. He also knew enough about it by now to know that anyone who did say that was selling something. 

He wasn’t buying it, and as long as he was able to do his job he figured he was doing okay. The rest just wasn’t that important. 

That didn’t mean he couldn’t do it if he wanted though, he was a good enough agent, and he would prove it if he had to. Sitting in the passenger seat with Ethan driving like a maniac he held his own. By keeping track of the car in front of them so that Ethan did not have to. By recalling every bit of information he had about the city they were going through, every bit of information that might possibly help them. He ducked by reflex when a bullet tore through the windshield, cursing as several more punched holes in the hood. 

“Left!” he cried, because a left would take them on a short cut, and they would hopefully come out ahead of the car. If Ethan was able to navigate the narrow street. Neither of them had been in Herat before, one of the larger cities in Afghanistan, but Will at least had some rudimentary knowledge of it. Currently his brother was stationed nearby, which had led to him wanting to know what he could. William James, Willie by his brothers was a rather hard man to keep track off. Not because he was constantly on the move, but because he did not always see the need to inform them of what he was doing. Probably becuase he knew they would object to certain things. 

When he joined the Army Will hadn’t really been surprised, nor when he announced that he was an Army Ranger. He had not been surprised when he heard he was being trained as an EOD either. Explosive Ordnance Disposal, he had not been surprised at all but he certainly had not been happy. It wasn’t exactly a safe career choice. It was very much unsafe and probably one of the most dangerous occupations in the army. 

Willie was good at it though, he had a talent for it, he respected the bombs but he did not fear them. It gave him an edge a lot of the others did not have, and thus they found it very hard to take his methods of doing his job. He had a bomb suit, and sometimes he used it. Not all the time, he did not believe in sending in the robot to scout ahead, as the camera view could only tell him so much. He’d rather go in himself right away. 

He really wasn’t an ‘by the book’ type of guy, he was the kind who’d throw the book at the bomb to see how the bomb would react to the book. 

Sometimes Will wasn’t sure which surprised him the most, that he hadn’t blown himself up yet, or that no one had gotten infuriated enough with him to shoot him. 

It didn’t matter right now anyway, Ethan took a left, which did rather mean they were going down a set of steps at a pace that was faster than it was safe, and while they did not overtake the car they were chasing they did gain a few yards on it. No doubt Ethan would have prefered it if they had gained even more ground, but it wasn’t Will’s fault someone had parked a shabby looking taxi in the way. 

They shot through an intersection, the screeching of breaks and honking horns behind them. Rubble lay on both sides of the street, making Will extremely uncomfortable. A lot of the IED’s were hidden that way. Just laying by the side of the road, covered in plastic and other rubbish. 

A cat crossing the street limped out of the way just in time, someone who did not appreciate their sense of urgency threw something at the car as they whistled past. It’s kind of hard to explain to a pissed of pedestrian that you’re putting their lives at risk to save them from a much bigger threat. 

Somewhere behind them he knew Benji and Jane were doing their best to follow in another car, but they had long since been left behind, and also now had to navigate past some of the fresh debri. 

Such as the market stall that was torn down when the tailend of a car clipped it. The car that nearly rammed into them, only to go of course and crash into a wall. Oh yeah, there was a lot of people who were not happy with them at the moment. 

Ethan just barely kept control of the car as he rounded a corner, and Will grabbed at the dash to hold himself steady in the car. Sometimes he felt they had to be a little too insane to do what they were doing. 

What really happened he did not know, he never had the time to realize anything was happening before it was already much too late. He was shouting at Ethan to hold right as they tore through a market square. 

Then there was glass flying everywhere, everything flying everywhere, and only when the car came to a stop, tyres slamming down on the ground as it tumbled a final turn, he realized they had wrecked. 

“Come on!” Ethan was shouting at him as he scrambled out of the wreckage, grabbed a motorcycle that had been knocked over and lept onto it. He was already disappearing from sight before Will realized he couldn’t come on, he couldn’t follow, he couldn’t do anything. 

He was coming to the realization the car had rolled, and when it did, his arm had got trapped between the seat and the side of the car, the pain wasn’t the worst right then. Shock was still too strong for the pain to push through, but he had no doubt when it did, it would be excruciating. 

Even if he could get the arm free he wasn’t sure what good it would do him. The door was bent completely out of shape, he couldn’t really move his right leg freely either, but that wasn’t caught as badly as the arm. Blood was pouring down his face, and he he was in deep shit.

TBC

Please comment, Jeremy Cricket is hungry.......


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Will was dimly aware of the fact that he was injured and trapped in a wrecked car, he was painfully aware of the fact that he was in big trouble. His only real hope was that Benji and Jane when coming behind them would realize where he was before they continued on. They should, he figured. There was a completely wrecked car in the middle of the square, they would investigate. 

He figured it was them when someone pounded on the side of the car, he figured he was totally and royally screwed when he realized it was not. 

Rebels, possibly. Pissed as hell, positively. Intending on exacting revenge, with great certainty. 

They got the car door open which he supposed he should be grateful though, though the pain when his arm was finally freed was enough to make him scream. Then they pulled him from the wreck with brute force, leering as he screamed again. It had been bad being stuck in the wreck, now he figured it was going towards worse. 

He quickly lost track of how far they dragged him, he tried to struggle against them, but it was futile. There was too many, the only time he managed to break their hold it only meant he collapsed to the ground. His leg was something along the line of useless, and his arm even worse, so no matter how good an agent he was, he was still helpless. 

He truly hated being helpless. 

Someone tied a strip of leather around his wrist, and tied it to a pole, he kicked out when they tried to do to same with his other arm. He figured it was broken, and that meant it would swell. If they tied the leather around it, that would restrict the flow of blood and if it was allowed to continue for too long he could lose the hand. Not a cheerful thought as they overpowered him. Tying it off tightly and securing it at another pole. His legs were free, but that was of little use to him. He couldn’t fight, could barely stand, and he had to try and keep his feet under him so at least not the weight of his whole body was pulling at his arm. 

He didn’t know who they were, if they were the ones causing the trouble, the ones suffering the trouble or just a gang of general thugs. It did not matter, he was still in their hands, suffering through everything they wanted him to suffer. The sun was high in the sky, beating down without mercy. How many hours did he have before the lack of water got to him? He’d been in a state of shock after the crash, that wouldn’t help. That cut down on the time he had. He had no hat of any kind to protect him from the harmful rays that dried him out like a husk. There was no sweat, it was dried as soon as it might appear. 

They left him like that for maybe three quarters of an hour, it was impossible for him to know. The sun did not seem to move at all, but it was slowly killing him and he knew it. 

Then they threw water on him, not just water, ice cold water. A lot of ice cold water. The shock from the heat, to the ice cold was the worst part. That was what would break him if they kept it up. When someone is overheated, a large shock of ice cold water is not advisable, and it was what they were doing now. If the shock was big enough, and his heart was weak enough, that could kill him. 

As they simply left him again, suspended by the two poles by his arms, he was weaker, and the next time the cascade of ice water was thrown at him, the shock would be worse. Eventually, they would indeed reach the point where it killed him. 

Jane and Benji had been just a short distance behind them, where they with Ethan now? 

Had they even realized? 

The sun quickly dried his clothes, torn in places, showing bloodied and bruised skin from the wreck and the general maltreatment they had subjected him to. 

They knew how long to wait, and he looked up, opened his mouth. It would barely do any good at all, but maybe if he could get some of the water in his mouth, could swallow just a little of it, he could buy himself another five minutes. 

He did not know how many times they repeated it, he lost track. He tried to look for Ethan, but his eyes were burning. His face was too badly sunburnt, his eyelids were swollen. 

He heard children clamouring, chattering cheerfully, crying out with delight, and a small hailstorm of small rocks and pebbles hit him. No one seemed to mind the way the kids chose to amuse themselves, but then they wouldn’t. It was all part of it. 

Someone emptied a bucket over him, but it wasn’t water. He had opened his mouth in the hope, but it wasn’t. It was much worse. He shrugged, trying to shake a scorpion of his shoulder, and one stung his hip. They had taken his shoes, when did they take his shoes? He had not realized they took his shoes but there were scorpions scurrying over his bare feet. He tried to lift his foot, to shake them off, but one stung his knee, and when he put his foot down, one stung him because, well, he did just about step on it. He couldn’t really fault the scorpion for being mad about that. He just couldn’t control where he put his feet down. He could barely think straight to know which foot he lifted. It really shouldn’t be hard to keep your feet apart, but you knew something was very, very wrong when it was. 

Probably not deadly scorpions, which was a small comfort, but the pain was not. It was a lot of pain, so, not deadly, but incredibly painful. There were scorpions like that, and even with the less deadly ones, get stung enough times and you really had a problem on your hands. 

He bit his lip as he felt one slide down the back of his shirt. He bit his lip until blood ran down his chin to keep from moving. 

The scorpion stung him in the small of his back. 

***************************************************************************

Jane heaved a sigh of relief as they finally caught up with Ethan. The trail of wreckage had been fairly easy to follow. The completely totalled car had worried them, especially given that they had seen blood in it when they stopped. No sign of either Ethan or Brandt though, which they took to mean both of them were okay and had continued on. 

Ethan was standing over the wreckage of a motorcycle and a car when they found him. It was nearly impossible to tell which parts belonged to the car and what had originated as motorcyle. 

Ethan, the leg of his pants torn stood with a hard hand around the arm of a guy who really looked like he had come out the worst. 

“I got what we need,” he declared. “We can call in the code and it’ll be over. They can sort it from Head Quarters as long as we get it to them right now.” 

“Oh good, that’s really good,” Benji heaved a sigh of relief. Pulling out his phone for a secure line, Ethan gave the code, he passed it on, and for once, that was it. They were done. The mission was over and they were ready to go home. 

As far as missions went, it had been fairly smooth. 

Ethan looked between them with a frown that confused Benji at first. 

“Where’s Brandt?” 

 

TBC

Plese comment, Jeremy Cricket is hungry....


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Where’s Brandt? 

Ethan had asked the right question alright, too bad no one had the answer. When he didn’t catch up to him, he had assumed Benji and Jane picked him up. When they did not see him at the wrecked car, they had assumed he was with Ethan still. 

They had been terribly wrong, all of them, he was with neither party, and none of them even knew where to look for him. 

Climbing into the car Jane and Benji had arrived in Ethan cursed loudly. Securing their prisoner while they navigated back through the somewhat chaotic streets. There was a lot of unhappy people around still, who did not really take kindly to the sight of any car at the moment. No wonder, given how much structural damage the chase had caused. 

If one had been forced to instigate a car chase, it was generally advisable to remove yourself from the area directly afterwards. Hanging around just wasn’t a good idea. 

They had no equipment with them to search for his phone, or that could have allowed them to track him. 

“I thought he was just behind me, I told him to keep up,” Ethan slammed his hand down angrily on the wrecked car. 

“Given the amount of blood, I’m not sure if he could keep up with you,” Jane mused. She was not happy. They had lost a team member, and one she happened to care about. She also considered Ethan to have been rather careless. One look over his shoulder should have told him that Brandt wasn’t along. This wasn’t the time to pass blame though. They needed to focus on what was really important, such as finding Brandt. 

After, when he was with them safe and sound again, then would be a better time to be angry, and then she would let Ethan know exactly how angry she was. 

There was a lot of blood in the car, not enough to lead you to believe someone had bled to death, but enough to let you know someone had been hurt, possibly badly hurt. 

It was all on the passenger side, meaning it had all belonged to Brandt. 

Really, just one look… 

“Okay, we move outwards, look for anything that can tell us where he is,” Ethan commanded. “And if you meet any of the American troops, we might as well get them to help. I don’t know how much use they’ll be, but maybe they’re good for something.” He had seen a couple of hummves. Though only in passing here and there, and he wasn’t sure how friendly the troops would be. They probably would not be happy about being told about a missing American either. Soldiers in troubled areas tended to be annoyed over that as they generally considered it to hinder their work. 

Normally, if it was an immense problem, the IMF would be one of the organizations sent in to help. Normally, they didn’t not lose members of their teams that way. He did not look forward to explaining that in his report. 

They had to focus their search closest to the wreck first, and there was a few scuff marks there. A spot of gravel on the ground where it looked as if someone had been dragged along against his will. Ethan decided to assume that was exactly what it was. He wasn’t sure how long it had been now. Far too long though. Assuming he knew when the crash had been, Brandt had been gone nearly twelve hours. Twelve hours in an oppressive heat, in an enemy territory, and that was bad. 

He really hoped it wasn’t as bad as all that, he really hoped that Brandt was okay. 

They heard the children laughing and shouting first, not normally something they investigated, but they were looking for anything that could give them a clue now, so they followed the sound. 

Oh yeah, the kids were having a ball. The smaller ones were throwing small pebbles at a man strung up between two poles. The older and braver ones would sometimes dart close enough to lash out with a stick, one threw a half empty plastic bottle at the man. They were really just kids, the oldest about thirteen, but it infuriated Ethan. Beside him, Jane drew her gun as she looked around. The kids seemed to be alone though, no one challenged them as they approached. 

“That, that can’t be,” Benji swallowed. “Please it can’t be,” he shook his head. 

He’d never seen Brandt look so bad before. He couldn’t even hold his head up, probably wasn’t even conscious by the look of it. His weight was supported only by the leather straps around his wrists, the strips digging deep into swollen flesh. There were tears in his shirt and trousers, and his feet were bare and dirty. Bloodied Benji realized as they got closer. Blood was smeared all over his body, the sun having done the rest of the damage. A large blister on his cheek while his breathing was labored and ragged. 

“Shit!” Ethan cursed, running forward. He put a hand under his chin, and one on his side, and Brandt cried out weakly in pain. Thinking it was his ribs Ethan moved his hand. It made no difference as he cried out again. “Hey, hey, it’s us Brandt. We’re here, we’re gonna get you out of this. You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be fine,” he tried. He grabbed his arm and pulled out his knife to cut the leather strip holding him, and Brandt cried out louder this time. His hand was badly swollen, Ethan figured that was why when Jane cried out. 

“Stop, don’t touch him,” she hurried over. “Those fucking bastards!”

“What?” he pulled back, knowing better than not to trust her. 

Jane had put her hand to Brandt’s neck, removing it slowly, and Ethan cursed. Jane was holding a scorpion by the tail. There were scorpions crawling around in his clothes. When he touched him, one of them had stung him. That was enough to make him let out a string of curses. 

“Okay, get the clothes off him, as slowly and carefully as possible,” he urged. Jane was already working on it. She was cutting the shirt open, from the cuff up the sleeve, and then down his side. Three scorpions fell out and Ethan stomped them to death. Jane moved over to Brandt’s other side, sawing through the shirt as quickly as possible without shifting the material more than she had to. 

Brandt moaned, and Ethan didn’t think it was because she was cutting his shirt open. Not that he would be overly happy with that, a grey with hints of blue in it. Suited him perfectly, but if they tried to slip it over his arms he’d get stung far too many times. 

“Shit!” Jane cursed again, pausing, turning to face him. “I can’t touch that.” 

“What?” she had lifted the material to remove it, and Ethan looked. It just couldn’t be easy, not even the smallest bit. He didn’t think there was any scorpions left in the shirt, but what did that matter? There were wires going around his torso. Wires connected to a crudely made bomb. They hadn’t been satisfied with leaving him in the hot sun, nor with the fucking scorpions. They had strapped a bomb to him for good measure. Ethan didn’t think it would blow if they moved him, but there were too many wires, a cheap wristwatch and God knew what else the things were. He had some smaller experience with bombs, but this one was out of his league. 

“Benji, I don’t care how you do it, but get in touch with the base here and tell them we need a bomb technician!” he snapped. There were too many wires, nothing to go on to tell them apart. There could be a failsafe and he just wasn’t skilled enough to deal with that. No matter how much he hated to admit it, he wasn’t. 

Brandt opened his eyes for but a moment, blue grey pain filled orbs meeting Ethan’s own ones. Knowledge of just how badly things were going. He did not know if he knew about the bomb or not, but he knew enough. He looked dejected in a way Brandt never did, as if he had already given up. 

Perhaps he had, but Ethan would be damned if he did. 

Two Humvees pulled up, and there was no mistaking the army vehicles. Barbed wire coiled on the hood, the soldiers climbing out wearing battle fatigues. A couple of them appeared to be arguing for a brief moment. Mostly out of sight behind the Humvee. When they came into full sight, one of them was wearing a bomb suit. 

He barely even spared Ethan a glance as he approached. He was stalking forward, even with the suit being as bulky as it was Ethan thought his body language spoke of anger. 

“There might be scorpions, they had put scorpions in his clothes,” Jane started and he just raised a hand to stop her. One hand on Brandt’s face, the other at his throat as if to check for pulse. The fingerless gloves allowed for finer movements, and once he was satisfied, he ran his fingertip over one of the wires. 

Ethan could hear him mutter to himself as he pulled the shirt off fully. Checked the watch, traced the wires and the explosives. He couldn’t really tell what he was saying about it, but he thought that he partially even sounded impressed.

He couldn’t tell how long he worked, it felt like an eternity, then he pulled out a pair of sharp pliers and cut a couple of the wires. He removed the watch as well, and pocketed something. 

Still without a word to Ethan he cut away Brandt’s pants. At least the knife he used was sharp, the material splitting easily, no more scorpions, but it had been best to check. Then he cut the leather that held him suspended from the poles. Ethan moved in to take him, and was too late as the man cradled Brandt close. Stalking towards the Humvee with his heavy burden in his arms. 

“What are you doing?!” Ethan might be glad that he had disarmed the bomb, but the hell he was letting someone take one of his agents. 

“We’re taking him back to base, he needs medical assistance as quickly as possible,” a soldier spoke up. “Come on, we have room in here, you can come along. You’d better not stay here anyway, it’s fucking dangerous.” 

“We’ve noticed,” Jane stated dryly. Not in the mood. It was impossible for any of them to stay with Brandt. That Humvee was already leaving. They had no choice but to follow behind, crammed in the little free space there was in the second Humvee. 

Ethan was seething, Benji nervous and fidgeting while Jane tried to keep her temper. This was everything going wrong in the most spectacular way. This was inexcusable. Yes, the IMF kept the rule that if they failed on the more sensitive missions you were on your own. That was what was stated, but they always got you out if they could. Brandt shouldn’t have been left in the car. He shouldn’t have been left in the scorching hot sun. There should have been no chance for anyone to torture him. 

The fact that it had happened couldn’t be changed. Ethan had simply been too focused on the mission, and yes it had been rather important. It shouldn’t have to cost them Brandt though, he shouldn’t be the price they paid. She couldn’t help but think that one glance should have told Ethan that Will apparently couldn’t follow. That he wouldn’t be okay left behind. If he had looked, would he had stayed? She wasn’t sure. 

Brandt, probably would have urged him on, but then he was a self sacrificing idiot. He would put the mission before his own safety, just as she knew she would herself. They wouldn’t be doing this kind of thing if that wasn’t how they were wired. 

There were times though, times like now when she wasn’t so sure it was worth it. 

TBC

Please comment, Jeremy Cricket is hungry….


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The camp was much like any other military camp, full of soldier and organized chaos. She recognized the barriers at the gate, but was glad that the other Humvee entered smoothly. That meant Brant would be getting help all that much quicker. 

Three armed Americans however, they were not overly fond of that, so they were searched, had their weapons taken, and then hauled across the campground to explain themselves. Ethan’s identification helped. The IMF didn’t send them out without making sure they could let others know who they were if they really had to. It took a couple of phone calls before everything was fully sorted though. It took a couple of hours, and that had Jane on edge while Benji was something of a nervous wreck. 

Someone had been in to tell them that Brandt was being taken care of, but there had been something the guy wasn’t telling them. Jane was sure of it, and she didn’t like it when someone was keeping something from her. Brandt was a great agent but he was not so good at taking care of himself. He needed someone who cared enough about him to keep an eye on him. Benji tried, but he always forgot, and Ethan, Ethan just wasn’t the type to think about the fact that Brandt would sit behind the computer and attempt living a whole day on a few coffee runs. 

The fact that it was taking so long before they got to see him was really getting on her nerves, but then they were finally done and they were not given back their weapons, but they were escorted to the infirmary. 

She clasped Benji’s shoulder briefly, to calm him. Benji really was the nervous one, he didn’t mean to, he just couldn’t help it. If Ethan was nervous, he didn’t let it show, not really, but he still appeared a little tense as they crossed the compound. Most of the barracks looked to be constructed of plywood, but the infirmary was a sound structure, clearly as advanced as they could make it. They would need it to, given all the trouble. How many casualties did they see every week due to IED’s? She knew how many bombs some of them had to disarm. The bomb squad they had seen before had treated it like just another job, just another day. They weren’t exactly shocked to see someone who had a bomb strapped to them. 

Their escort told them what door to enter through, then left them. 

Ethan, true to habit was first through the door, Benji and Jane right on his heels. 

“Brandt!” Benji cried out, spotting the man who was pacing there, dressed in army fatigues. He was hurrying forward while Jane paused. It was Brandt, but his face while tan showed no hint of sun burn. It was him, but it couldn’t be. 

A second later the man exploded into action, with every bit of speed and strength they had come to know from Brandt. Not even Ethan had time to react before he was slammed against the wall. The man’s forearm pressing into his throat, a look of utter fury on his face as he held Ethan in place. 

Ethan was skilled in hand to hand combat, and now he brought up his forearm to break the hold, and was thrown to the floor, with the man coming down after him. He was good, but the man was furious. 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t slit your fucking throat right now!” he snarled. 

“Brandt? Will?” Benji bit his lip, standing crestfallen. 

“You’re not Brandt, you’re one of his brothers,” Jane decided. Which one she wasn’t sure of. Brandt was never very forthcoming with information about them. 

“And you’re the fucking ass who let him get into that mess!” he spat. He stood, letting Ethan climb to his feet, then slammed him into the wall again. “That how you treat all your agents? Or just Will? Do you even give a fuck about him? Do you know how fucking close that was he died?!” 

“We had a mission, Brandt knew that,” Ethan pulled himself up. 

The man in front of him shook his head. “Brandt, you call him Brandt. What? He not worthy of his given name? Or is it just so it’ll be easier to not give a shit when you finally get him killed?” 

“What?” Benji blinked. “You think we don’t care about him? We spent all day trying to find him!” 

“And how the hell could you lose him in the first place?” his brother snarled. “This isn’t a game, this can get you killed, and if you want to die that’s your problem, but you don’t take Will with you.”

“You have no idea what was at stake!” Ethan snapped. 

“Oh I do,” his eyes were icy, full of barely controlled rage and hatred. “I know you toyed with his life, and there is no fucking excuse for that!” 

“But Brandt’s one of us,” Benji looked between them confused. “We’d never risk him, not like that, he’s, he’s one of us.” 

“And that should tell you something about how the great fucking Ethan Hunt don’t give a shit about those he’s supposedly working with!” Brandt’s brother snapped. “How many times is this? How many times has Will paid for your fucking mistakes?” 

“Brandt made his own choice!” Ethan snapped back. “But perhaps you don’t think he’s capable of that? Who the hell are you anyway? I get your his brother, but don’t tell me I don’t care about my team. I trust Brandt to do his job, but perhaps you don’t think he’s good enough for that?” 

“Fuck you!” 

He was Brandt’s brother, but they did not share the same temperament Jane mused. This guy threw a fist at Ethan, a hard right that he was barely able to dodge. Brandt would never have done anything like it. 

“Brian?” hadn’t he said his brother was too hot-headed for his own good? Letting his temper getting the better of him. It kind of fit the person in front of them. 

“What?” he turned to look at her, baffled. “Hasn’t he told you anything? He can’t really trust you, can he?” 

“Things went to shit,” Jane stated. “And I’m so fucking pissed about that I’d like to find someone to punch. And if you don’t stop being an ass right now and listen for a second, then I’m very tempted to make it you.” 

“Yeah, I’d almost like for you to try,” he stated, but he backed away from Ethan and faced her. “Do you want to know the shape he was in? What the heat did? He didn’t have any to drink, but they let him get over heated and then threw ice water at him. You got any idea what that does? You’re weak enough, that can kill you. His arm was broken, and they strung him up by it, so fucking swollen the circulation was almost completely cut off. A few more hours and he might have lost the hand, if he didn’t die from thirst or from the fucking bomb they had strapped to him before then. That one only gave him two more hours, that’s how close he was to getting blown up. Two fucking hours, and do you want to know about the scorpions? Hottentotta alticola, local. Generally not deadly, but they hurt like fucking hell. Crawling all over you, multiple stings, he’s, he’s alive,” he broke off, taking a deep breath. “He’s still alive, but you have no idea how fucking close that was, and it could still happen, all of that shit, it could still kill him, and if it does, there there won’t be a fucking place on this whole earth where you’re safe from us!” he directed the last to Ethan. 

Jane wasn’t sure of exactly whom he included, his brothers, the rest of them, probably, and what more, she didn’t think it was an empty threat. 

“If Brandt dies, I won’t rest until I find every single one of them that did that to him,” she stated coldly. Then there was Ethan, Ethan who had never meant it to go to hell but had still left him in the car without making sure he was okay. Ethan who really had made a mistake and messed up when he did so. One she still wasn’t sure how she felt about. 

“But he is alive, right?” Benji pleaded. “He’s gonna be okay, isn’t he? He’s got to be okay.” 

“You’re Benji,” he stated more than asked, and Benji nodded. 

He nodded slowly, as if pondering that. “Will told me about Dubai.” 

“Uhm, is that good or bad?” Benji fidgeted. Given how this guy had torn into Ethan, he wouldn’t stand a chance against him and he knew it. 

“It means you’re okay,” he decided. “So are you, I guess,” he nodded to Jane. “You on the other hand I doubt I’ll ever accept,” he told Ethan. “And I don’t give one shit what Will says about you. He hasn’t the sense to know when he’s being used and treated like shit.” 

Jane smiled, it was hard not to, it was true. She had heard the story, when the Secretary suggested that Ethan escaped by assaulting them, Brandt would have let him. If the Secretary told him to, he would have let him do it, and she was pretty sure Brandt could take Ethan. Ethan was good, really good, as good as she was, Brandt was probably just a little better… 

“So, not Brian,” she pressed. “And I don’t think you’re Clint, so who?” 

“We’ve tried to get him to talk, but he really don’t want to talk about his family,” Benji mused. 

“I’m William,” he stated with a smug grin. 

“No, Brandt’s William,” Benji looked really confused. “We just got into the habit of calling him Brandt. He’s never seemed to mind, and well, he’s Brandt.” 

“Who is too fucking polite to say so, but would love it if someone actually cared enough about him to make it Will on occasion,” he snorted. “And I’m William too. William James. Friends call me Will,” there was a slight edge in his voice that let Jane know that was a privilege they were not allowed to take just yet. 

“Your parents thought since you looked the same, they could call you the same?” she gave him an amused smirk. 

“No, our parents thought they’d name him William, and me Willhelm,” he snorted. “But some fucking asshole couldn’t keep the paperwork straight and put us both down as William.” 

“And they couldn’t get it fixed?” Ethan wanted to know. Sore about the hostile way William was treating him no doubt Jane mused. 

“Said it was too much hassle, officials didn’t like them to change the name of a minor,” he shrugged. “Never bothered us, don’t see how it’s any of your fucking business?” 

Jane had to admit she was starting to really like him. Not that Brandt had ever hesitated in standing up to Ethan, but he never did it quite this way. This guy was really good. “Exactly how bad is he off?” she wanted to know. 

“They’re working on him,” he stated, almost deflating with worry when he did not have the anger. “Or so the bastards says. Won’t let me see him yet, but he wasn’t doing good in the Humvee when we brought him in.”

“He’s a fighter,” she stated. “I know him well enough to know that.”

“Bet your ass,” he grinned. “Will don’t quit, ever, he’s not gonna quit now. But, it’s bad just the same.” 

“He shouldn’t have been left,” Jane stated softly. “We were right after, but we still weren’t in time.” 

“Yeah,” he snorted. “This damn place, don’t matter how fast you are. You can still be too damn late.” He pulled something out of his pocket, fingering it before stuffing it back. Jane was pretty sure she knew what it was, a part of the bomb. She hadn’t thought about that part yet, but he had been forced to work on a bomb that was strapped to his brother. That, that just couldn’t be easy. They had not been able to tell through the bomb suit, but he would have known instantly who it was. 

“Are you okay?” she asked and he gave a start. 

“What?” 

“I know how I felt about finding him that way, how hard it was for me,” she decided. “For you, having to get that thing off him, it must have been so much worse. Are you okay?” 

He nodded slowly, as if he was only now starting to consider it, “yeah.” 

TBC

Please comment, Jeremy Cricket is hungry.....


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

An army doctor came to get them shortly after the truce had been called. Jane figured it was a truce. William James was not happy with them, but most of his anger was now focused on Ethan, and he was quite decent to her and Benji. He was even nice to Benji in that calm supportive way that Brandt had, that seemed so familiar to them because of that. 

When they were cleared to go in though, he pushed past them in a hurried manner. It was clearly a military infirmary. One large room, beds in rows. It reminded Jane more of an episode of MASH than it did of a hospital. There was no doubt about it though, the spartan decor was one hint. 

Several of the beds were taken, Brandt was in one, IV line running into the back of one hand. One into the other arm, clear fluids, saline solution to replace what he had lost. Probably something to counteract the scorpion venom as well. There was no cast, but they had fixed his broken arm in something akin to a temporary version of one. Why she was not sure, but she figured they knew what they were doing. She hoped so. 

William James was instantly at the bed, kneeling by his brother. Out in the other room he had been raging with barely controlled anger, now, a mere few minutes later he was tender and gentle. The transformation was so sudden it was almost disconcerting. 

They had slathered Brandt’s face with something greasy looking that was no doubt supposed to help with the sunburn, Jane hoped it would, because it looked to be incredibly painful. His face was swollen, so he could only open his eyes a fraction, but she could still tell he was there when he focused on them. A small smile when he saw his brother.

Apparently they could tell themselves apart she noted as he actually tried to speak, “hey Willie.” His voice was so hoarse it was painful to listen to.

She wasn’t sure what she expected next, but it wasn’t the light slap William James delivered his brother to the side of the head. “What the fuck were you doing there?” he demanded. “Do you think you can waltz around here anyway you please? Did you even think about the IEDs?” 

“Yeah, thought you had gotten them all,” he did not really seem to mind the slap Jane noted. 

“You had better hope I did, I got the one they strapped to you!” his voice took on a sharper tone. 

“What?” Brandt blinked, not following that. 

“Yeah, those nice guys who strung you up and stuffed scorpions down your pants,” William told him sharply. “They also strapped a bomb to you. We got a call about some idiot American who’d gotten himself into a damn mess. Came out and saw it was you. Had to cut the fucking thing off you while it was ticking down.” 

“Shit!” Brandt closed his eyes for a moment. “Sorry.” 

“You have no idea just how sorry you’re gonna be,” grabbing a glass of water from the rickety bedside table William James touched the straw to his lips. Brandt drank greedily, and Jane wasn’t surprised. The IV lines with the saline solution would be more effective, but he’d feel better for actually drinking, and maybe sound a little better too. 

“Brian scale?” he asked, sounding vaguely curious. 

“Hmm, doesn’t translate well,” William James mused. “But, let me tell you from experience that the anti-venom they gave you for the scorpion stings are gonna make you feel like absolute shit. And it hasn’t even started yet.” 

“I already feel like shit,” he muttered. 

“Yeah, and it’s gonna get so much worse,” he actually smiled. The kind of teasing big brother smile Jane actually knew. When you weren’t smiling because things were good or something was funny. You were smiling because as dire as the situation was everyone was at least still alive. She had thought that Brandt was the oldest, but the way the two of them were she wondered if she hadn’t gotten it wrong. 

“Good to know,” he sighed, obviously not looking forward to that. 

“I’m really looking forward to how you handle the puking with those ribs,” his brother mused and he shuddered. 

“Did you get him?” he asked Ethan, before drinking more of the water his brother offered him. 

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Got everything we needed. “It’s over, and we’ll head back as soon as you’re fit to travel.” 

“Shouldn’t be long,” he stated, but Jane figured he was lying and that they all knew it. He wasn’t fit to travel, he really wasn’t, and wouldn’t be for one to two weeks the way she saw it. Right now he was still half drugged, later, those sunburns would be really painful. His brother spoke of vomiting from the anti-venom, and that wasn’t exactly all that unusual. It was quite likely that it would be a full week before they even got him out of bed. 

“Good,” Ethan nodded. “I’ll let the Secretary know,” he was no doubt thinking about the next mission, the next crisis Jane decided. The next time they would have to save the world, but it angered her just the same. Couldn’t he see how badly he was doing? Ethan Hunt was a great agent, not always so good with people though. 

“What?!” apparently Brandt’s brother was of the same opinion. “You think he’s just gonna get up and walk out of here cause you say so? Does he look anything like okay to you?” 

“Hey, Willie, it’s okay,” Brandt mumbled. 

“The hell it is!” Willie snapped at him. “I don’t give a damn what you think you did or didn’t do wrong. You’re a self sacrificing idiot. But if you think I’m gonna stand by and watch it, you’re even dumber than I thought.” 

“Willie,” Brandt sounded exhausted, and whatever it was, Ethan just not thinking or what, Jane figured he didn’t need this argument right now. “It’s fine. Don’t worry.” 

“And knock it off, both of you,” she folded her arms across her chest and Brandt gave her a grateful look. “Because right now, you are both a couple of pig headed idiots, and forcing the guy in the hospital bed to play negotiator makes both of you just as bad.” 

“Thanks,” Brandt gave her a grateful look, before his eyelids slid closed. He forced them open again, but he was obviously worn out. His brother gave Ethan an angry scowl before sitting with a sigh. 

“You’d better sleep now if you can, I meant it when I said the anti-venom is gonna make you feel like shit. In a couple of hours, you’ll be puking your guts out.”

“I’d rather not,” he mumbled and his brother chuckled. 

“Just don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he mused. Will was almost asleep, so he put his hand on his shoulder briefly. Then started to leave, giving Ethan a glare that warned him from trying to stay behind when acting big brother Willie had decided they should leave. 

Jane nudged Benji to follow along, she could understand where Willie was coming from. He was more volatile than Brandt, that much was obvious. Brandt would never have attacked like he did, he just wouldn’t. 

Willie’s hair was cut much shorter, and Brandt generally kept his short and neat so that was saying something. Willie sported more of a Marine buzz cut. It made sense though, given what he did. 

She thought she had detected something of Brandt’s humour in Willie, but it was hard to tell when the man was so thoroughly pissed at Ethan. 

He paused outside, and yeah, that was a huge difference from Brandt when he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. She didn’t doubt Brandt would do it if it was required for an undercover assignment, they all would, but she had never seen him smoke. 

“You can call your boss and tell him whatever the hell you want, but if you even think of taking Will away from here before he get’s cleared, You’re gonna have me to deal with.” He paused again, as if gaging Ethan’s reaction. “For that matter, they’re probably gonna want to have him shipped back to the states before he’s fit for active duty. Don’t want civilians here, so as soon as he’s fit to travel, but you won’t get him then. You won’t get to do anything with him. I’ll make sure of that.”

“What happened was unfortunate,” Ethan tried. It was, he had not meant for it to play out like that. The mission always had to come first though, Brandt knew that. He would have insisted on it if he had had time to ask him. 

“No, what happened was inexcusable,” Willie stated, crushing out the cigarette under his combat boot. “Spilling your coffee is unfortunate. This, if you don’t even get how fucking bad this is, then you’re no better than the scum Will risks his life trying to take out.” 

“Hey, you’re upset, I get it,” Ethan was starting to show some temper Jane noted. Trying to defend himself and the decision he had made. “But Brandt knows the risk, he knows what we’re doing, but I don’t think you do.” He was squaring off to be intimidating, the amusing thing was, Willie wasn’t affected. 

He wasn’t intimidated, and he didn’t try to look tough, he just stood calmly now, as if he was prepared to reason. That, if anything, made him seem a lot more like Will than anything else she had seen so far. 

“Everytime we take a mission, we are told what happens if we fail, if we’re captured,” she stated. “Most of the time, there is no backup, there can’t be any, and that Brandt knew very well. He also knows we don’t leave anyone behind, not in this team we don’t. But shit happens, even shit that should not be allowed to happen. Ethan should have checked, I’m with you there. He should have made sure, but given the stakes, he might have had to go on anyway. Because as much as I hate to admit it, sometimes that’s just a choice we have to make. I don’t like it, I fucking hate it, but it’s the way it is. If we are to do our job, saving people, then yeah, it kills me, but sometimes we have to leave someone and just hope and pray we can get them back.” 

He nodded slowly, almost grudgingly, “At least you got balls, which is more than I can say about him,” he nodded towards Ethan. 

“This hasn’t really been his finest moment,” she mused. “But regardless of what it looks like, and how this played out. Ethan would give his life for Brandt if he had to.” 

Willie nodded, as if to say he had better. “They’re probably gonna want to get you out of here as soon as possible too,” he stated. “So you had better find out if they want you off the base, or if they’re gonna bunk you somewhere for the night.” 

“We’ll do that,” Ethan stated dryly, he wasn’t planning on leaving the base while Brandt was in the infirmary. He just didn’t see any need to inform his brother about that. 

The base didn’t have much in the way of guest quarters, but there were barracks with a couple of spare bunks. Jane was directed to one for the female staff, while Ethan and Benji were directed to one for privates. Higher ranking officers were given their own barrack rooms. Ethan wasn’t sure what to call them, the washrooms were common for all of them. A building identical to the flimsy barracks, with rows of shower stalls, wash basins and toilets. Privacy wasn’t something you had the right to by default. Not in the army anyway, not that he really needed it. 

Benji was unusually quiet, which could be good or bad depending on the reason. Deciding that he didn’t have the energy to deal with any of his insecurities, he assumed it was for the good and ignored it. At least for the time being, he had other things to think about. 

 

TBC

Please comment, Jeremy Cricket is hungry....


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ethan could not say he was overly impressed with Brandt’s brother so far. He considered him to be far too arrogant with no hope of ever understanding what it was the IMF did. So what if he could disarm bombs? He had disarmed over a dozen himself while on missions. That meant he knew what it was all about the way he saw it. 

William James thought that just because he was Brandt’s brother, he knew more about him and what he wanted than Ethan did. The fact that he had been left behind the way he had was unfortunate, the state they had found him in even more so. It was part of the risk though, a risk you had to take as an agent, Brandt was an agent so naturally he had to take the risk. That really should not be so hard to understand. 

He doubted this was something that William James understood. There was a lot of people who didn’t. People who thought that their job was easy and that anyone could do it. They hadn’t grown up together, how well did the two brothers truly know each other? Was William James truly concerned about his brother, or did he just like to get in people’s face? Brandt seemed to be patient and understanding with him, but Brandt seemed to be patient and understanding with most people. Naturally that would extend to his brother. 

He had to admit that he simply had some concerns about the man. He would have liked it better if involving him in any way could have been avoided but at the moment that wasn’t possible. There was a chance he supposed, that he was simply a man who lived in a hard world and who was very worried about his brother. Though there was also a chance that he was a bit of a bully who liked to rant and rage, and used the excuse of his brother to do so. 

He did however have to admit that that option didn’t seem like the most likely when they went to check on Brandt the next morning. 

William James was already there in the infirmary, and what more, he was sitting on the edge of the bed and supporting Brandt against him. He had apparently been right about the nausea, and that throwing up with his ribs would be painful as hell. Ethan didn’t need anyone to tell him that, he knew just how painful it was. Having someone help you like he was doing would make it a lot easier, and having that being someone you knew and trusted, like your brother would probably help even more. 

As much as he hated to admit it, there was no way he could support Brandt like William was doing right then, but God, both of them named William was just too confusing…

Jane, did not seem to care very much about that at all, stepping forward to check on her team mate. William even leaned back to let her put the back of her hand to his forehead to check the fever. 

“They gave him something for it,” he shrugged. “But I’m on duty in another hour.” 

“Don’t need a babysitter,” Brandt muttered. 

“No, but you need someone to hold this back for you when you puke,” Willie gave a playful tug on a lock of his hair. 

“No I don’t,” he looked mostly annoyed, but not entirely. “Anyway, nothing left now.” 

“True that, fun, wasn’t it?” Willie mused. 

“When did you get stung?” Brandt tried to settle himself a little more comfortable. “Didn’t tell.” 

“You bet I didn’t,” he nodded. “If I had told you, you would have turned into a mother hen again. They’re Hottentotta Alticola, not that dangerous, but they are everywhere, hides in any small place they can get to, sometimes the same place where those jerks hides their bombs.” 

“Um,” he nodded. “You’d think the bombs would be bad enough, and I’m not a mother hen.” 

Willie chuckled at that, “yeah you are. The worst kind. You think everything is your fault, you think you have to fix everything for everyone. You won’t listen when we try to tell you otherwise. Which is the main reason we don’t tell you stuff.” 

Jane couldn’t help but chuckle at that, one thing was for sure, Willie knew his brother very well. He was describing him perfectly. Brandt didn’t look very impressed by it, but then he wouldn’t. Getting called on it that way, with the way Willie was chuckling as he did so. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Willie grinned now. Nudging him gently while still supporting him. “We love you anyway, we just ridicule you for it and keep everything we can from you.” 

“Shut up and go,” Brandt muttered. “Going on duty soon you said, haven’t eaten.” 

“Told ya, fucking mother hen,” he shook his head with an amused chuckle. 

Brandt might have tried to reply but was dry heaving again, moaning as he did so. Given how she knew how painful busted ribs were, Jane did not blame him. Out of the three men she worked with, Brandt was generally the stoic quiet one. Benji just couldn’t help it, he whined a bit about it. He wasn’t weak, he just needed a little bit of sympathy to make him feel like he would pull through. Ethan wouldn’t whine, but he was still rather obvious with it. It was hard to describe, but you always knew. Brandt, was just quiet in a way that you overlooked him. When he started making noises you knew it was bad going towards worse.

“You just had to be right,” he muttered. 

“Sorry buddy,” Willie truly sounded remorseful Jane noted. It was obvious that he truly cared about his brother. Even if Ethan still looked a bit sore about it. He hated it when someone was able to step in and do something better than he could himself. 

“S’ okay,” and that was Brandt, even barely conscious he was trying to look out for others. “Go eat,” as if to show he did not want or need him then he laid down, half curled. 

“Bossy,” Willie gave a hint of a tug at one lock of hair. Not that Brandt’s hair was really long enough for that, but it was longer than Willie wore it. “I’ll stop by quick before I head out.” 

“Just go,” he almost sounded as if he wanted to be rid of his brother, but Jane doubted that was it. It seemed much more likely to her that he just wanted to know his brother had something to eat before he headed out. 

“Come on, canteen’s this way,” Willie nodded as he got to his feet. Again, making it clear he would not leave his brother alone with them. He probably knew they’d be with him when he headed out, but she guessed he pretended not to know. For now, he’d make sure they did not have too easy access to the man he still wasn’t sure if they deserved. 

On the other hand, they hadn’t eaten yet and did not really know where the canteen was, so Jane squeezed Brandt’s shoulder gently before following his brother. 

The canteen was the same flimsy wood material as the barracks, but larger. A more or less closed of section holding a kitchen, and then there was the line where they were served, and rows of tables. A lot of them taken, some free. 

Benji expected there to be a breakfast display, and there was, of sorts. You had the option of plain corn flakes or frosted cheerios, available in two large dispensers. Milk for the cereals, juice and coffee to drink. There was also a tray of bread, with jam, but that was it. He had thought the food would be a little better and that there would be a little more to choose from. 

Willie moved quickly along the line, filling a bowl with cheerios, grabbing two slices of bread and a mug of coffee. Heading to a table without looking to see if they’d follow, but smiling when Jane sat next to him. 

“So it’s just Ethan you don’t like,” she mused as she tried the coffee. Not very good, but well, it was coffee and it was hot. 

“At least you got balls,” he shrugged with half a grin. “And at least I can tell you care. He might be a bit wimpy,” he nodded towards Benji who frowned confused. Only catching the end of the sentence. “But I guess he got some guts. Will told me he shot a guy who was choking him. Will’s one hell of a fighter in close combat, so anyone getting the better of him is someone you want to watch yourself with.” 

“I uh, there wasn’t really time to get close, and I uh, figured if I did, the guy could kill me just by looking at me,” Benji admitted. “But I mean, I passed the test, with guns I mean. But I’m not the best shot, so I was scared I’d have hit him, but I didn’t really have a choice.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Willie shrugged, shoveling food into his mouth. “You’re okay, geeky as fuck, but okay.” 

Jane had to smile, that was a pretty apt description of Benji. “You really make the perfect image of an overprotective big brother,” she mused, which nearly made Willie choke on his coffee. 

“What, fuck no!” he shook his head, clearing his throat. “Will can do that shit since he’s so bloody keen on it. I know better than to try and keep the rest of those idiots in line.” 

“And yet you could have fooled me,” she grinned. She had a feeling that was the way you dealt with Willie. You had to show you had balls to get his respect. 

“Will’s older,” he shrugged. “I’m the middle one. But someone has to look after him at times, and the fuck Jason can. He can barely keep himself out of trouble.” 

“So this sort of thing really does run in the family,” she grinned. 

Willie gave a light chuckle, “guess it does. But not the way you think with Jason. He’s not really like the rest of us, he’s just, he’s an oddball. He’ll get himself into a shitload of trouble, and he won’t even see it coming. At least Clint generally knows he’s getting himself into a fucking mess. He just goes ahead and do it anyway.” 

“I would really like to be around for one of your family get togethers,” she mused. “It must be interesting.” 

“Only if everyone can make it,” he drained the last of the coffee. Threw a hesitant look towards Ethan, as if trying to decide if he was worthy, then shrugged and turned towards Jane. “If we really get everyone together, and you can rile Brian up enough he and Aaron join forces against Will, then you can generally get Jason in the kitchen and get Clint to play along. Then, it’s a lot of fun, and not one thing Will can do about it even if he tries.” He didn’t say anything about what part he normally would play in it, but he generally did not just leave it alone. They generally did all of them gang up on Will though, as he was generally the most calm and composed one. The one who favored order rather than chaos. If they all worked together though, he did not stand a chance against them no matter how hard he tried. Brian was always game, sometimes a little too eager but Aaron could rein him in if need be. Aaron was very good at how to handle Brian. Depending on what the matter was of course, Brian wasn’t a complete idiot, just the hot headed one who might get anything into his head and then act on it before he had time to start thinking. 

He wasn’t completely inconsiderate though, Brian loved to throw Will, but he’d never be outright cruel. The problem was he never stopped to think, and sometimes took it too far. He wasn’t always minded to listen to Jason then, and Jason didn’t always realize that Brian needed to be stopped. Clint knew how to get people to listen, but he didn’t know Brian well enough. It wasn’t his fault, he hadn’t gotten to grow up with them which grated on all of them. He himself wasn’t one to coddle, but he remembered how Brian used to tag after him when they were younger, and he used the same method now that he had then. Snap at him, get in his face about it, and sometimes overpower him by force. It quite often seemed to be what Brian wanted, or thought he wanted, which was why you finished off with a more gentle touch. Something to let him know that no matter what, they loved him for the idiot he was. 

They did, all of them, so it wasn’t hard to act like it. 

TBC 

Please comment, Jeremy Cricket is hungry.....


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

He checked in on Will briefly before he headed out, but he was on duty and had to do his job. He had to put the rest out of his mind, because if he allowed himself to be too preoccupied with Will, then he might make a mistake he could not afford to make. There was after all no shortage of IEDs. He had to deal with two of the damn thing. First there was one in the middle of the street, disguised with various garbage. Kids playing all around, a dog that came sniffing, and whimpered as he showed it away. 

The animals did not fare any better than the humans did. He didn’t know what had happened to the poor creature. Almost all bone, half starved and it wasn’t very likely that anyone would take pity on it to feed it. They weren’t allowed to bring them back to the base for various reasons. He hated it, but the terrorists wouldn’t hesitate to use animals to get to the hated Americans. Any way they could, and all he could do was try and keep pace with them. 

They made a bomb, he disarmed it, they made another one, he disarmed that one to. He pretended to himself he was numb enough not to care how much damage they could do, but he never truly forgot. When he did, was when they would get him. 

One of the guys he had trained with had been good, damn good, but he was also scared of the damn things. Scared of the power, scared of how unstable they tended to be. 

That more than anything was what got him killed, only two months in. He was scared, he hesitated, he thought it through too many times. 

Respect was good, fear was bad, not everyone understood the difference between the two. He wasn’t sure if Ethan Hunt would, but Will did. He rather thought Jane would as well. He liked her a lot better than he liked Hunt. If it had been only Hunt he wouldn’t have left without making sure they couldn’t get to Will while he was away. Jane would make sure he was okay though, he knew as much. She’d make sure someone was with him when he needed it, and that he was left alone to rest the rest of the time. 

Once they stopped feeding him the antivenom for the scorpion stings, the nausea should fade fairly quickly. Then once he could keep down what he drank, they’d remove the IV lines and let him take the rest of the fluids he needed by actually drinking them. In a day or two, the swelling in his arm would be down enough they could fix him up with a proper cast. Around that time they would start talking about when they would send him home to the states. 

Brother of William James or not, regardless of what they thought of Ethan Hunt they did not want any civilians on the base. Too many complications that could come from it. Too many idiots that wandered around without knowing what they were doing. 

Not that Will would do that, he was far too smart, but the top brass did not know that, so they wanted him out of there where someone else would have to take responsibility for him. 

They had already been confused enough by the whole ‘identical’ and ‘we didn’t know you had a brother’ bit. It did say in his file he was adopted though, so all he generally had to do was to explain that they had been split up when they were adopted. 

Another advantage of being damn good at what you did, no one wanted to piss off the EOD when they knew they would likely as not need you. 

As soon as he was off duty he headed back to the infirmary, finding Will looking just a little better. He was at least more coherent. The other three were there as well. In the case of Jane and Benji he assumed it meant they cared enough to be there, when it came to Ethan, he wasn’t quite as sure. Will seemed to trust him, but Will was an idiot who trusted too many people he should not trust. He couldn’t say he trusted him to have the sense to know who to trust. 

He nodded towards Jane and Benji, brushed past Hunt and ignored the sigh Will gave over the fact that he ignored his team leader. 

“Willie,” he sounded as tired as he looked, and he grinned. Brian would be happy to know he could still get Will to use that tone of voice with him. The two of them did tend to join up against him whenever they could, just to prove that he couldn’t big brother them the same way anymore. They weren’t his responsibility the same way they had been when they were kids. They shouldn’t have been when they were kids either, but they sure as hell weren’t now, regardless of what Will thought. He and Brian were determined to prove it, and Will would have that tired tone of voice when they did. 

It made him smile happily to himself. If Hunt had a problem with him, it was between him and Hunt, it wasn’t Will’s problem to fix and the sooner he realized that the better. 

“Good day then?” Jane wanted to know with an amused smile. Picking up on the face that he was in a good mood. 

“Good enough,” he shrugged. “There was a beautiful cluster in one of the old wrecks they got all over the road. Just outside the butcher shop. The guy tried to set it off while I was working on it.” 

“Oh, that doesn’t sound good,” Benji frowned. 

Willie shrugged, “not a big problem. I saw him with the wires, so I shot him.” 

The casual way he said it made Benji give a start and Will frowned. 

“I saw his wife try to stop him, he gave her a black eye,” he tried to keep the anger out of his voice for that. “He was going to blow both her and the kid up, just to get me and maybe one or two others. So yeah, I shot him.” 

“Good call,” Will agreed. Because that was something a little too close for comfort for both of them. Clint’s dad had been a butcher, who’d beat his wife and kids every day. There was no way Willie could watch that and just walk away and they both knew it. Neither one of them could. A man who was willing to kill his wife and family for it, that wasn’t much of a man and he couldn’t say he felt any sympathy towards them. 

“I thought you’d agree,” Willie grinned. “So how was your day? Puked up anything interesting yet?”

“Fuck off,” there was no heat behind the insult, but Willie still chuckled and Jane smiled. There was a few points where they were a lot alike, but in other ways they were so different they did not have much in common at all. Willie was very rough against Will’s well polished manner. 

“You think that’s what he needs now, insults?” Hunt gave a displeased frown and Jane shook her head. 

“Okay, enough of it, both of you, and I mean that,” she stated firmly. “Ethan, regardless of what you meant or did not mean to do, what you did got Brandt into this shit, so I happen to think his brother has the right to doubt us a bit. So far, we haven’t made the best impression, so just deal with it. And Willie, no matter what it looked like at first, no matter if we call him Brandt or not, he’s one of us. One of our team, and one of our friends and shit happens, doesn’t matter, he’s one of us, and if I get my hands on the ones who did that to him, I’d like to stuff some scorpions down their shorts, and you can take my word for it. Ethan, might just shot them instead.” 

Willie simply grinned, “I think I like you more and more.” He did, he did not mind her very much at all, which was why he felt a bit better about allowing Will to leave with them.

He was right, they did not want them on the base any longer than they had too, so as soon as they considered Will fit to travel they were scheduled for the next troop transport back to the state. They had fixed his arm in a cast, and supported it by a sling. Some of the sunburns had started to peel, and the rest looked just as bad. 

He had done all he could, he had alerted Laura, Clint’s wife to the fact that Will could be in better shape. She’d make sure he didn’t do anything stupid, for a while anyway. She enjoyed fussing over them, she’d like as not call Will the moment he was stateside, and Will for all his IMF training was chanceless against her. What more, she knew exactly what they did anyway, since her husband was S.H.I.E.L.D there was no point in trying to keep it from her, so there was no need to try and come up with some lie or excuse. He could tell her exactly what had happened, and she’d make sure his brother was okay when he could not be there with him. 

Yeah, she’d call him pretty much the second he got his feet on the ground, and then Will would call him, annoyed to have been ratted on. He did not like to worry Laura, but she was strong. She also wanted to know when they were hurt, so that she could fuss over them. So, she’d use the fact that she found out from Willie to make Will do what she wanted him to. 

He was really glad that Laura and Clint had gotten together. She was good for Clint, and she was good for the rest of them as well. 

He always figured he could take care of himself, regardless of what Will said. Will needed someone who could keep an eye on him from time to time. He’d never admit to it, stubborn that way, but he did.

Fortunately he had a family he had a family who was more than happy to do it, if he wanted it or not… 

The End

Please comment, Jeremy Cricket is hungry.....


End file.
